Well, um, hey guys. Sorry for the long delay. I have just been soooo wrapped up with my other story that I neglected this one. I apologize. It's just that I was having a bit more ideas to continue it more than this one. Anyways, I wrote this quick chapter. Not too much, but I do plan to write a few more chapters in the coming days for this story that will be longer. So anyways, Sorry again for the wait.

Section 1: Case of the Silver Fox

Chapter 9: Risks

Judy hit the metal grating hard. She winced at the impact.

Okay, that was a farther drop than I thought.

She slowly picked herself up, looking for any sign of the two foxes that she was chasing. One of them was her partner. The other a dangerous killer, who Nick was facing head on. It scared her. She had to catch up with them.

The rabbit doe gripped the railing of the suspended bridge high in the treetops, squinting into the darkness. Somewhere down below was the ground, and somewhere in the surrounding darkness was her partner and probably one of the most dangerous foes they had ever faced.

Her ears shot up at a renewed burst of gunshots coming from somewhere down below. Behind her, the shootout had ended, so she could clearly hear the nearby popping sounds.

They are exchanging gunfire again. I need to get down there, but where to jump.

Judy frantically looked about, and caught sight of a platform below her.

Bingo!

She slipped over the railing and landed on the wood surface with a roll.

That was easy enough.

She ducked as she heard a bullet barely miss her head.

Judy threw herself to lay prone to the platform's surface.

She heard a yell from close by.

"JUDY! Are you okay?!"

The rabbit breathed a sigh of relief. Nick was still okay. She shouted back into the darkness.

"Yeah! Where are you?"

"Just below you, across the way! He is almost to the ground!"

Judy got back up to peer down into the black.

"And where is the ground?! I can't see anything, Nick!"

"It is no more than 30 feet down from you…"

There was a pause. Nick must be running. In fact, he was speaking between breaths.

"There is another platform directly below you! Drop to that and then to the groun- Ahh!"

There was another round of gunshots. Judy's heart skipped a beat as she heard Nick's cry of pain.

"Nick?!"

"I'm fine! Got grazed! Get going, Carrots!"

He didn't need to say that twice. Judy grabbed the railing with both paws and threw herself out over it still hanging onto the railing, causing her to swing back and towards the platform that Nick said was under her. She would have to take his word for it since she saw nothing but black.

Her feet hit the platform with a thud.

Almost there.

Judy looked down and was rewarded by seeing ferns. The ground. Wasting no time, she dropped the last 10 feet with ease and quickly drew her gun before rushing to where she assumed the stairs were.

Damn silver fox!

Nick was descending the spiral staircase two steps at a time. Below him he heard his adversary do the same. The ground was so close. Judy should be down by now and would cut off this murderer's path.

The red fox gritted his teeth when he gripped his shoulder. He may have downplayed his injury a bit. He didn't want Judy to worry though.

Nick heard a 'click.'

Crap!

His eyes went wide again as he threw himself against the tree trunk as the loud gunshots accompanied a clip of bullets punching through the woodwork where Nick had just been standing.

Not this time, SilverButt.

Nick still didn't know how this guy could tell where he was so precisely. The silver fox had been able to somehow deduce where the red fox's location was above him and fired his gun upward through the wood.

Once the bullets stopped flying, Nick launched himself down the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest with a mixture of fear, excitement, and worry for his partner.

Nick had a sudden idea to shorten the distance. It was pretty much the same idea as before… not really thinking it through.

He hurdled over the railing. Falling through the open air, Nick quickly turned his body so he could look back at the staircase passing by before him. In that moment, Nick felt like he was in one of those action movies. He spotted his target, who had spotted him and was aiming his gun his way, but Nick was quicker. He popped a few shots at the silver fox, who dove down the rest of the stairs to avoid them.

Nick then had a sudden worried thought about the impact with the ground but then felt his back hit a leaf as he merely bounced off it and to the ground directly below. He stood up wide eyed. He couldn't believe that worked. He must be getting as crazy as Judy.

Before he could rush to where he last saw his target, Nick felt something slam into him from behind, sending him sprawling onto the ground before him.

Groaning, since he landed on his bad shoulder, Nick looked over to see Judy also groaning and rubbing her head.

"Hey Carrots, mind watching where you are going next time?"

Judy just gave him a quick glare before they both bounded to their feet.

Judy looked around, frantically.

"Where is he?"

Nick nodded ahead of them.

"The stairs are this way. I think I hit him in the shoulder in my fall."

He couldn't help a grin.

"Payback."

Judy shook her head as they started to run after the silver fox. Now wasn't the time to try to figure out what Nick was talking about.

They burst into the lighted clearing where the stairs led to, guns drawn.

The silver fox was nowhere to be seen.

Nick and Judy cautiously approached the bottom of the stairs.

Nick gave a grin. He had hit the slippery silver fox.

Well, well. It seems the Specter is flesh and blood after all.

He chuckled to himself before wincing at the pain in his shoulder. He clutched it with his free paw. Removing his paw, he saw that it was coated in blood. That silver fox got him good.

Nick's eyes flashed a worried glance at Judy. She hadn't noticed yet. Good.

He angled his body in such a way as to hide the fact that he was injured from Judy. The bullet had pierced through his Kevlar vest. The fox must be using special ammunition in order to do that.

Nick felt his paws going clammy and his face begin to become pale.

Uh oh.

He shook the feeling away. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the blood at the base of the stairs and looked about. The assassin couldn't have gone far.

Nick sniffed the air. He caught a scent trail going back towards a row of older houses built along the forest floor.

Judy caught his eye as he nodded in that direction.

She gave a nod back and started to move towards the houses.

Nick began to follow her, but stumbled a bit. He blinked away the dizziness.

Crap.

He took another breath and took out his good old scout handkerchief and stuffed it between the wound and the vest in order to help with the bleeding. Hopefully it was enough for now.

Nick began to jog after Judy. He grabbed his walkie on his shoulder. Better call for backup while he still had the chance.

Hmm. Nick's been shot, but he is taking it like a champ. But, is that really a good thing to do? Perhaps he should tell Judy, but that would probably mean that she will give up the chase to attend to him. Which is better? Catching a murderer or letting said murderer get away? It all depends on how you look at it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Sorry it took so long. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Well, I will try my best to not neglect this story for so long again, but Tears for a Fox is the priority right now. More followers means more time I should put into it instead of this one. Sorry. Just how I see it. :(

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Until next time...

StoryCrusader